The Day of the Dead 2013 exhibition at SOMArts Cultural Center offers a visually dense and stimulating environment of elaborate, traditional altars and multi-dimensional art installations. Inspired by current events, cherished relationships, and Day of the Dead celebratory rituals, Bay Area artists utilize multifaceted, contemporary creative practices in Imagining Time, Gathering Memory: Día de los Muertos 2013.

The opening event features an artist market, cash bar, music and dance performances by Las Bomberas de la Bahia and Paloma McFly, interactive performance and the unveiling of the altars. Many of the artists will be on hand to introduce the audience to their works.

Each year, more than 80 Bay Area artists from a breadth of cultural backgrounds participate in the Day of the Dead exhibition at SOMArts, examining local and global issues through altars and contemporary art installations that address themes ranging from the deeply personal to the political and emphasize viewer interaction.

This year the exhibit is dedicated to those whose lives have been affected by cancer, and to the late Spain Rodriguez, pioneering underground cartoonist, and the late Carlos Villa, renowned artist, educator, and multicultural activist, both of whom died of cancer. Chosen by curators René and Rio Yañez, the theme “Imagining Time, Gathering Memory” encourages participating artists to imagine time in relation to life and death, and to utilize memories to create altars to honor the dead and celebrate life.